AP Gram Sachivalayam Candidates All Praise For Conduct Of Exams

Amaravati: The prestigious flagship programme Village Volunteers System or Andhra Pradesh (AP) Grama Sachivalayam written exams were successfully conducted over a period of eight days. The exam, which commenced on September 1st ended on Sunday (September 8th), with 90 percent turnout of candidates, which was a record of sorts in the country.

As per reports, 19, 49,218 candidates appeared for the test conducted for 1,34,524 posts in the state. Officials in charge of conducting the test said that the exam was conducted without any glitches and some of the candidates said that the level of questions asked in the paper was akin to the UPSC. Both academicians and candidates have praised the government's efforts in conducting the exam in a professional manner.

The programme received a lot of flak from the opposition when it was official launched by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Independence Day. Setting the tone for corruption free and transparent government that promises welfare and development on equal scale, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the programme for taking governance to the doorsteps of the people by involving over 2.8 lakh village volunteers.

The Government issued a notification in July and received more than 21, 69,589 applications for 1,26,728 government posts. Many people expressed doubts whether they would be appointed through merit, or if there would be any scope for corruption during appointments.

Putting an end to the criticism and negative propaganda, the Government conducted the entire process of notifying and conducting exams in a span of just two months! Something, which was hitherto unthinkable in the past where one would have to wait for two to three years for the results to be declared, and appointments fructify. The test papers marking are almost on the verge of completion and by October 2nd, appointment orders would be issued to the candidates who qualified for the test, officials are saying.

In order to facilitate so many candidates, 5,314 examination centres were established across the state. Around 500 APSRTC buses were arranged for the candidates to reach the examination centres with ease. Help-desks were also arranged at various public places like bus stands, railway stations, etc. for the candidates who were appearing in the examination. Officials have ensured that drinking water and other facilities for the female and disabled candidate were in place in the exam centres. Traffic restrictions were in place so that candidates reach on time, much to the delight of the candidates who were praising the manner in which the whole exam was conducted in lines of UPSC exams.

CC cameras were put in centres, which were periodically checked at Command Control Centre. Security arrangements around the centres were beefed up to prevent any untoward incidents. Section 144 was also enforced in sensitive areas. The answer sheets were taken under high security to the centres for correction. As noticed by APPSC aspirants the questions were not like that of the APPSC papers, which had a reputation of mistakes happening now and then. This was avoided as the test was conducted under the aegis of District Collectors.

CM YS Jagan had decided to do away with interview process after qualifying in the exams. The posts would be given solely based on candidates scores from the exam and this has led to the end of the broker or mediums, where jobs were allegedly given earlier. This has led to promoting transparency in the recruitment process.